DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 For·lorn a.
 1. Deserted; abandoned; lost.
    Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn.   --Spenser.
    Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.   --Shak.
 2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.
    For here forlorn and lost I tread.   --Goldsmith.
    The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme.   --Prescott.
    She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living.   --Thomson.
 A forlorn hope  Mil., a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.
 Syn: -- Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.